Def Queen I. Queen II wasn't great, but the latest Japanese remasters have really helped on that. Brian has said that he winces at the drum sounds on the early albums now - it really was down to the band's inexperience in being able to put across what they wanted the engineers and producers to capture.

I don't like to call the Jazz drum sound as poor, but more 'different' - I like the use of roto toms which Roger had obviously recently discovered, but the snare throughout Jazz is very unlike his signature sound, and is a little harse with no character.

The original poster says that Flick of the Wrist and The Invisible Man are amongst the worst. I don't agree personally - Flick of the Wrist, along with the rest of that album is a remarkable immprovement in drum sound from the preceding two albums, and The Invisible Man is perfect for that track - no, it's not a 'big rock' sound, but the mix of acoustic and electronic/programmed drums sit perfectly together.

With regard to Roger's live drum sounds - I've posted many times before that actually in person, Trip Khalaf produces a superb sound in the arena, and then Justin Shirley Smith royally fucks it up when mixing the live releases!

I love the drum sounds from Sheer Heart Attack to Races, hate NOTW and love Jazz, go figure? After that I don't much care for them until Cosmos, however Innuendo is a notable exception.

A few tracks stand out in between, I guess Under Pressure I like, and Dragon Attack, however they pale when compared to the older tracks, my all time fav has to be Your My Best Friend, I just love the toms on that.

As for Trip verses Justin, well yep I would tend to agree, however you do have to factor in that in an arena you are hearing the drums with the added advantage of the space within the arena, so you get a full vibrant sound, with the natural reverbaration, if you crank any big kit up in that situation and it will sound pretty impressive. I often find the reason kits sound bad in arena's is that they are simply too low in the mix, and what really gets me going is if you lose all the high frequencies and can't hear the cymbals at all!

But yes I would say Justin has shall we say room to go when it comes to mixing drums!

"It is better to sit in silence and have people think you're a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

Def Queen I. Queen II wasn't great, but the latest Japanese remasters have really helped on that. Brian has said that he winces at the drum sounds on the early albums now - it really was down to the band's inexperience in being able to put across what they wanted the engineers and producers to capture.

I don't like to call the Jazz drum sound as poor, but more 'different' - I like the use of roto toms which Roger had obviously recently discovered, but the snare throughout Jazz is very unlike his signature sound, and is a little harse with no character.

The original poster says that Flick of the Wrist and The Invisible Man are amongst the worst. I don't agree personally - Flick of the Wrist, along with the rest of that album is a remarkable immprovement in drum sound from the preceding two albums, and The Invisible Man is perfect for that track - no, it's not a 'big rock' sound, but the mix of acoustic and electronic/programmed drums sit perfectly together.

With regard to Roger's live drum sounds - I've posted many times before that actually in person, Trip Khalaf produces a superb sound in the arena, and then Justin Shirley Smith royally fucks it up when mixing the live releases!

Agree... he fucks things up together with the rest of th QP team.... bunch of amateurs with Jim B as the old grandpa makin' old fashioned decisions.

You made us laugh, you made us cry, you made us feel like we could fly!

Totally agree. Queen It would be a much better album with a decent drums sound, and also if they would include Mad The Swine and Polar Bear instead of Seven Seas Of Rhye and The Night Comes Down (INHM a very weak song).

NOTW, hands down. If you listen to f.e. All Dead All Dead, Get Down Make Love and It's Late, you know what I mean. Just perfect. The toms, snare and bass all have a dynamic, powerful sound. I have never understood why Roger changed this when recording for Jazz. Sure, each individual element of his kit on Jazz sounds crystal clear, but the overall sound is mediocre to say the least.

The worst:

The Works. Nothing more than a mere shallow, dull sound. The snare takes the biscuit. Unbelievable, they must have been pie-eyed or stoned at the time.

Fora me worst sounding drums are Machines (don't care) and Tha march of the black queen. While I don't care for the first one, I'm really disappointed for the second wich is one of the best song from the '70s... I would pay everything to have TMOTBQ drum track remastered at "As it began" level... A real pity...

The Works. Nothing more than a mere shallow, dull sound. The snare takes the biscuit. Unbelievable, they must have been pie-eyed or stoned at the time.

Ooh yeah, I almost forgot that! There are some songs on The Works such as Tear It Up, It's A Hard Life and Hammer To Fall that scream out for a big classic rock drum sound like they have on A Day At The Races, and parts of Innuendo and The Miracle. unfortunately the whole album sucks drum sound wise!! In a lot of places half of the crash cymbals sound like china cymbals!! I think the tracks were recorded at The Record Plant in the US, and the album 'Nine Lives' by Aerosmith was recorded in the same room, 13 years later, and had a similar style of drum sound.

Bizarrely though the drum sound on The Works tour was also consistently the worst live drum sound Roger ever had too - certainly on the recordings I've heard like Rio and Final Live In Japan - so I don't quite know what was going on other than possibly the chrome finished kit had a lot to do with the final sound? I was also certainly surprised to see Roger recording and gigging with the manufacturer's drum skins left on that kit, rather than having them replaced with something better such as Remos as is the norm.

Queen I and Queen II, however i think Queen II is worse than Queen I. At least you can hear the songs in the first album. On Queen II the drum tracks are so dull and buried in the mix they were pretty much inaudible, namely on father to son and march of the black queen.